Texas IAI Division Meets in Harlingen
By Fred R.
Rymer
Firearms
Examiner
Texas Department of
Public Safety
Austin, Texas
(Re-Printed from the Finger Print & Identification
Magazine, October, 1955, Vol. 37, No. 4 by Charles Parker,
Historian, Texas Division of the IAI, July, 2010)
The 18th annual conference of the Texas Division
of the International Association for Identification was held at
Harlingen,
Texas, August 1, 2 and
3, 1955, with headquarters at the Little Creek Hotel. It was a new
experience for those attending as this was the first time the
conference has been held in the “magic valley” since the
association’s existence.
New
Legislation
There were many outstanding speakers and topics on the
program and the entertainment was also of the most excellent
quality.
Following the formal opening, Joe S. Fletcher, Assistant
Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, addressed the
group discussing identification problems and the identification
bureau. He was followed by the Honorable Rogers Kelly, Senator from
Edinburg,
Texas, who gave a
resume and explicit discussion of the legislation pertaining to that
primarily concerning identification and peace officers which was
passed by the recently adjourned legislature.
On Monday afternoon, C.C. Benson, punctuating his address by
slides, discussed motor or identification numbers now being placed
on new automobiles as well as laws concerning car registration.
George J. Lacy, questioned document examiner from Houston, gave
the history and some of the problems of the document examiner when
confronted with the ball point pen or fluid lead pencil. The
afternoon session was concluded with a general discussion period
moderated by Chief Glen H. McLaughlin, Bureau of Identification and
Records, Texas Department of Public Safety.
During the short business meeting concluding Monday’s
discussions, the following officers were elected and installed:
President:
Lieut, Clyde L. Bentley, ID
Officer, Tyler Police Department
1st Vice President:
Fred R. Rymer, Firearms Examiner, Texas DPS,
Austin
2nd Vice President: Capt.
Jay Paxton, ID Officer, Fort Worth Police
Department
Sec-Treas.:
Oscar Nelson,
U.S. Immigration
Service, El
Paso
Sgt. at Arms:
Jeff Bagwell, ID Officer, Corpus Christi Police
Department
Editor:
H.A. Albert, Polygraph Operator, Texas DPS,
Austin
Board Of Directors Are:
Floyd E. McDonald, Chemist, Houston Police
Department
Paul Bentley, Polygraph Operator, Dallas Police
Department
Robert L. Travis, Oklahoma
DPS, Oklahoma
City
Lt. Dewey L. Hockett, Midland Police
Department
Capt. J.T. O’Rourke, Superintendent ID&R, El Paso
Police
Air Force
Program
On Tuesday morning the conference heard the role of the
office of special investigation and the provost marshal in the
overall air force program and the cooperation existing between these
offices and the local peace officer as told by Special Agent Thomas
B. Thompson, Detachment Commander, and Lieutenant Carl A. Bender,
Provost Marshal, both men from Harlingen Air Force Base, Harlingen,
Texas. Mr. Clark Rice, Special Agent of the National Board of Fire
Underwriters of Abilene, Texas discussed the investigation of arson.
This discussion was followed by one of he highlights in the way of
speeches. Police Chief Jack Heard of Houston gave the
administrator’s view on the role of the identification bureau,
conceding that this was one of the best discussions yet given on the
subject, a resolution was passed by the association to send a copy
of this talk to various chiefs in the state of Texas. Mr. Forrest V.
Sorrels, Supervising Agent, U.S. Secret Service, Dallas gave the
history of money and counterfeiting in this country which was both
interesting enlightening.
Courtroom
Procedure
Tuesday afternoon was devoted to the role of the FBI as told
by Scott Werner, Special Agent in Charge, San
Antonio, followed by a very fine discussion of courtroom
demeanor by the Honorable Hawthorne Phillips, Judge of the
107th District, Brownsville. A new note was added
to the program this year by Inspector C.G. Conner of the Texas
Highway Patrol with a discussion on identification as an aid to
traffic control. This talk was thought provoking and stimulated
thinking along new and different lines. The Honorable James Bates,
District Attorney, Edinburg, gave a run down of all
laws and recent court decisions which affect all identification men,
especially his so-called “dead hand theory.” This session was
concluded by a resume of recent firearms developments by R.O. Queen,
Assistant Superintendent, Identification Bureau, Houston Police
Department, and Fred R. Rymer, Firearms Examiner, Texas Department
of Public Safety.
Wednesday morning was devoted to a discussion of muzzle
distance determination of shots through glass by C.H. Beardsley,
Chemist, Texas Department of Public Safety; the restoration and
preservation of amputated fingers by Floyd E. McDonald, Chemist,
Houston Police Department, and the program was concluded with a
discussion of the influence of communism on public opinion by F.H.
Douglas Jr., Assistant Chief, Internal Security Section, Texas
Department of Public Safety.
Sunday evening, a fine reception was held for all present at
the Little Creek Hotel. Monday morning, the ladies left on an all
day shopping trip to Mexico. Monday evening,
everyone enjoyed a dinner and dance in the Pagoda room of the Little
Creek Hotel. Tuesday morning, the ladies were entertained at a beach
party and luncheon on beautiful Padre
Island. In the evening, everyone attended a dinner and
enjoyed the unusually fine floor show at the Drive In Café in
Matamoros,
Mexico. Wednesday
morning, the ladies attended a coffee at the home of Mrs. W.A. McGee
Jr. in Harlingen.
Galveston
Selected
All in all, this was a fine conference with much information
exchanged. The success of this first conference in the “magic
valley” ensures that it will not be the last. During the final
business meeting, Galveston was selected as the
meeting place for the conference next year.
